Following the Vatreni's impressive 2-1 win over defending champions Spain, the F.C. Barcelona midfielder believes his team will seek to repeat their brilliant display in their final group stage fixture to knock out Ronaldo and Co. at UEFA Euro 2016.
The 28-year-old insists that their last 16 opponents will need more than Cristiano Ronaldo if they are to clinch a victory over Croatia on Saturday. Furthermore, Rakitic gave his thoughts on this anticipated clash, telling newspaper Blic:
"We must provide maximum effort, enter the game with 100 per cent motivation and die for every ball.
"Cristiano Ronaldo cannot win without the rest of the [Portugal] team. I was ahead of him and Real Madrid with Barça; I hope for the same outcome at the European Championship.
"We don't think about the trophy, but go step-by-step and I think we're powerful enough to eliminate Portugal."
Croatia will go head-to-head with Fernando Santos's side on Saturday at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
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